WHAT GOOD IS A REALTOR? WHY DO I NEED TO HIRE A REALTOR IN TODAY’S MARKET? Both of these are great questions, and if the Realtor you are interviewing can’t explain the benefits they offer, well you are right in NOT hiring them…But I think it unwise not to hire a Realtor at all. A quality Listing Agent brings a lot of value to the table and looks out for your best interest in the transaction.
It is true, if you sell your house yourself you will save thousands of dollars in real estate commission, but lets be honest, you are willing to pay the “buyers agent” 3% commission for bringing the buyer to the table, so really what we are talking about is the 3% commission you are not willing to pay the Listing Agent, (who by the way would have your best interests in MIND). Lets look at this another way, you are willing to pay the Adversary Agent money, but the Listing Agent that is LOOKING out for your best interest you say, heck with you, I’ll go it alone. That seems crazy logic doesn’t it? Your house, for most of Americans in the biggest single asset you own. It is a $200,000 or more asset, and you are afraid to pay $6000(based on $200K) to protect your best interests in this asset. Does that seem intelligent? Don’t you spend Thousands of dollars EACH year protecting the asset with insurance? Why would you not want ‘Insurance’ from the knowledge a listing agent can bring to the table when selling your home? Do you know one class of home owners least likely to Sell a home on their own? Millionaires! Those people understand the value an Expert brings to the table, including a quality Listing Agent.
You may be under the belief that “ALL” a Listing Agent does it take pictures of your house, and then the Buyers Agent, does all the work. If this where true, then I would have to agree, don’t hire a Listing Agent. The good news is, a Listing Agent’s “job” doesn’t begin till after all the time and money marketing your home to find the “STRONGEST” buyer. One big difference between a Realtor’s marketing and a home owners marketing is that the Realtor is able to Market to “ALL” the buyers out there. Your thinking that can’t be TRUE? According to National Association of Realtors 20% of buyers purchased home from For Sale Sign, 3% purchased the advertised property, the remaining 77% had a realtor in some aspect of purchasing, For Sale By Owner are likely missing out on 77% of the potential BUYERS out there.
Logic would suggest that it only takes one Buyer to purchase a home, so who cares if 77% of the “would be buyers” don’t see your home. Your right it only takes one buyer to buy your home. Limiting yourself to a small pool of buyers you may miss out on the “strongest” buyer out there. You have to ask yourself, Why would I want to work with the strongest buyer? Any Ideas? Any fears that come to mind with closing? Inspections, Appraisals, closing costs, do these sound like areas where you would want the strongest, financially sound buyer to be buying and not the guy who has $10,000 in his retirement fund? Any number of issues can come up during the closing process that will bring a deal to a dead stop! These issues can be avoided when working with a Listing Agent who has sold hundreds of homes, and has seen the problems dozens of times and can write the contract in order to avoid those problems.
As I mentioned earlier the Listing Agents “job” begins after the buyer or multiple buyers in today’s market come to the table with a strongest contract. The Listing Agent earns their 3% and more, when writing the contract to Protect the Interests of the Sellers, and ensuring that contract and buyer has as few road bumps along the way to closing. I might say, “every” deal has it’s problems. When you have a good Listing Agent on your side you can count on that agent to work through the problems with the Buyers Agent and bring the deal to closing. The biggest myth is that you as the seller has more to lose than the Listing Agent. The Listing Agent’s career, livelihood is on the line EVERY TRANSACTION. Tell me who has more to lose?
If your are a home owner considering the For Sale By Owner route, I would highly urge you to reconsider the value a great Listing Agent brings to the table. Drop me a line if you would like to chat about hiring me to do the best job of selling your property, and ensure you get the most money in your pocket in the end..